Breech-loading fire-arm



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A.N.NEWTON. BRBBGH LOADING FIREARM.

Nb.11,700; jPatented Sept 19, 1854.

1 I, N EWTON. B REBGH LOADING FIREARM. No. 11,700.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2Q Patented Sept. 19, 1854.

ri rear-end of the chamber B.- mountedupon and rigidly secured to a small UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ABNER N. NE'WTON, OF RICHMOND, INDIANA.

BREECH-LOADl-NG FIRE-ARM.

Specification forming partof Letters Patent No. 11,700, dated September 19, 1854.

Figure 1 is aside elevation of a cannon constructed according to my invention, with the movable breech thrown back for the insertion of the charge. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal section of the same through the center, with the breech in place. Fig. 3 is a transverse section in the jline w 3 of Fig. 1. y i Similar letters of reference indicate correspending parts in the several figures.

{Ehisinventione which is applicable to cannous only,'but may be in part applicable to fire-arms of every description-consists, first,

in a certain mode of .eonstructingthe movable breech; secondly, in a certain method of oper-- ating a pair of clamps by which the sliding breech is held in place, and which requires to be released when. the breech is to be thrown back; thirdly, incertain improved mechanism for giving the necessary motion to the sliding breech; fourthly, in the arrangement of the "-1 f the breech and the movement of the 1nechanisni employed to. effect the said movement are made to eifeetthe cocking and setting free of the hammer; and, fifthly, in certain means by which the explosion of the charge is rendered impossible until the breech has .eoinmenced to enter the chamber.

To enable those skilled in the art to make 1 and use my ii'ivention, I will proceed to 'dej'seribe its construction and operation.

A is the movable breech, and a the. breechforming part thereof, and fitting to the carriage, O', which is mounted on small wheels b-b, running on fixed tracks on a table,"-]), which forms part of the gun-carriage, the said track being parallel with. thebore of the gun.

fl hereis hinged to the breech-pin, by a hinge joint, c,.a;lip, Z,which fits to slide in a recess inthc lower part of thednterior' of the chamber, so as to form a portion thereof, as shown :back in the line of the bore,

- firmly on the floor of the recess.

lock of thegnmwhereby the sliding movement The breech is ders g g, and thus gnidetheir movements; 1

2, but whieh,when the breech is drawn as shown in Fig. 2, is capableof receiving a cartridge, which requires merely to be placed upon it, and can then be carried straight into the chamber by moving forward the breech. .The reason for hinging the lip to thebreech-pin is that the lip may be capable of a slight motion to prevent its fracture,which would certainly sooner or later take place,while the gun is in service, if the lip were rigidly attached and the fitting were not quite true, or. the parts should wear out of truth, so as to prevent the lip bedding A fracture of the rigid lip would require the wholebreech to be removed; but if a fracture of the hinged .lip should take place a new one may be subinFig.

'stituted in a few minutes if one or more spare lips be carried with'each gun. The lip is provided near its front end with a friction-roller,

d, (see Fig. 2,) which is let into it to such a depth as to'project a very little below its bottom surface: This roller, when the breech is being run or wheeled back and forth to charge the gun, runs on the bottom of the recess and takes off the friction which the weight of the lip and the charge would produce; but when the lip is in its place, as shown 'iiL Fig. 2, it falls into a slight depression in the recess, to allow the lip to bed firmly on the bottonr of the recess. The breech is moved back and forth by means of two arms, 0, which are attach'ed, to a transverse shaft, E, which rests in bearings under the table D, and is moved on its axis by means of a hand-crank, F, the said arms a entering recesses f, one on each side of the breech. The form of the recesses and the positions of the armsa e are such that when the-breech is in place it cannot be driven back by the force of the explosion acting on the breech. q

' G G are the clamps,which secure the breech closely to the rear of the chamber while the gun is being discharged, consisting of strong metal plates having shoulders g g at each. end,

to receive between them the cars h h on the sides 01'' the gun, and the similar ears, h h, on

the sides of the breech, which'said-ears receive betweenthem the smallerpart of the clamps, which is situated between the shoul- The front ends of the clamps are attached, by a linkeonneetion, a hinge, or otherwise,to the sides of the gun, and near the center of their length are furnished outside with two staples or loops, '5 i, to receive the ends of the long curved upper arms of two levers, H H, which both work on a fixed fulcrum, 9', below the table D, and

somewhat resemble a pair of shears. The lower short straight'arms of these levers enter two slots in the forward arm of a. lever, I, which works on a fulcrum, k, and when the slotted part of this lever rises the piece Z, (see Fig.- 3,) which separates the slots, acts like a wedge in forcing the levers H H apart,'an d throws'outward the rear ends of the clamps; but when it descends the pieces on m outside the levers H H draw the said levers together and throw the clamps inward. The back arm of the lever Iis of curved form, and has a tongue, 1), at its-extremity and a notch, 02-, just within the tongue, and this arm is actuated to operate the clamps in the following manner by means of a plate or broad fiat arm, q, attached to the transverse shaft E: During the movement of the breech the lever I remains in the position indicated in red lines in Fig. 2, and just as the crankshaft has been moved in the direction of the arrow shown.

nearit in Fig; 2 far enough to bring thebreech home to its place the 'plate q arrives in contact with the tongue on the lever"I,'and a slight continued movement,which is provided for by the form of the recessesff in thebre'ech, throws up therear end of the lever to the position shown in black outline, and in so doing depresses the forward end and throws the levers H H toward each other, and throws the clamps inward into position to. confine; the breech. The edge of the plate (1 then falls into. "the notch 01. lVhen the crank-shaft is moved back in the opposite direction to throw back the breech. the earlier part of its movement does not affect the breech, owing to the play which is left in the recesses f for the arms e,- but the plate 1 acts on the lower side of the notch 91, and depresses the rear end of the lever, and raises the forward end far enough to force apart the levers H H and open the clamps to set free the breech, immediately after which the arms 6 eomcinto operation. As soon as the plate q-works out of the notch 02 the movement of the lever I ceases and the lever is held stationary, so as to lock the levers-H H and the clamps, by reason of the curved form of the upper side of the lever I, being an arc corresponding wit-h the movement of the extremity of the plate q and the said plate working in contact therewith. The lever I is inthis way held stationary during the .whole of the backward and forward move-' ment of the breech but when the breech is home the plate q,'striking the tongue 12-, causes the clamps to be thrown inward to lock the breech, as before described. When the breech is in place,the plate q is always in thenotchrn,

of the lever I, and thus the lever is locked,

and locks the levers H H and the clamps,'and I can only be unlocked by the movement of the crankshaft.

mainspring '1', the catch 8, t, are all attached to the breeeh ca-rria as to move with the breech. The explosion of the cartridge is effected by means of a needle. Workiii g through the center of the breech, and hence the hammeris arranged opposite the center of the breech, and the tumbler a is at tached to it; Attached to the tumbleris an arm, 10', extending in the opposite direction to moves back, runs up an inclined way, K, on the table D, and thus throws back the hammer until it is cooked. explode the charge by means of an arm, L, attached to the crank-shaft, which, by a slight continued motion of the crank after the breech is home and the clamps have secured it,.draws bler. -It is impossible that the chargd can be exploded before the breech-pin has entered the chamber, as, untilthe breech-pin has moved so far forward, the arm 10 of the hammer would be arrested by coming in contact with the table D.

There are two light springs, M M, secured to the sides of the gun some distance in front of the breech and extending beyond the rear end, carrying pins (1, a, which enter between the rear end of the chamber and the breech, with their points extendinga little beyond the walls of the gun to prevent, the shellv of an exploded cartridge from being withdrawn by the drawing back ofthe'breech, These pins offer no obstacle to the entrance of cartridges atthe-breech, as, owing to the. rounded shape of the front of the cartridges, they will. be forced. aside; but in order to prevent them stopping the entrance of thebreech-pin'I make (see Fig. 1 which will come in contact withthe ends oflthe springs, which are bent to a suitable shapefo'r the purpose, and force them them. \Vhcn the breech isin place the pins to a lie within recesses in'its shoulder.

XV hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by-Letters Patent, is-' lip; d, substantially as described, which fits to a recess in the chamber and receives the charge when the breech is" drawn back, but forms partof the chamber when the v for firing, and which, when the breech'is movi'ngback and forth, is capable of a slight vibration to compensatefor any want of truth in to rise from the floor of the recess in the chamber, to be supportedby a friction-roller, d, in runningback and forth, but to bed firmlyon 'thefloor of the recess when the breech is in place for firing, as herein set forth.

2. The method, substantially as described, of operating the clamps G G to lock and unlock the breech by means of the crossed or shears levers H;-H, the double-slottedlever I,

J is the hammer, which, together with the.

the feather-spring the hammer, and working in a slot in the table D of the gun-carriage, and to this arm is attached a friction-roller, z,' which, as the breech The hammer is set free to.-

thefeather-spring from its notch in the tum-- a projection, a on either side'of the breech,

aside at the time the breech-pin arrives near- 1.- Constructing the breech-with a hinged breech is in place the breech or its fittings, and to enable itself "means of arms e 0, attached to the same shaft and the plate or broad arm g on the transverse shaft E, all constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as herein set for th.

3. Moving the breech back and forth by E, which is the first mover of the mechanism which actuates the clamps to lock and unlock the breech, the said arms entering recesses in the sides of the breech, substantially as herein set forth.

4: The attachment of the hammer, mainspring, combination of parts constituting the lock of the gun, to the movable breech, or to the same tumbler, and feather-spring, or all that carriage therewith, in any way, substantially as described, whereby the movement of the ABNER N. NEWTON.

\Vitnesses:

S. G. DUGD'ALE, JOHN FINLEY. 

